Monday, March 24, 2008

Day 4: Casio G-Shock DW-9300MS-8T Raysman

G-Shock Week-and-a-Half is back! Five solid days of G-Shocks starting today with the DW-9300MS-8T Raysman "Men in Smoke". Yet another from the "Masters of G" series (see also Day 3 and Day 2) the Raysman is the first "Tough Solar" G-Shock, a feature that can be found on many G-Shocks today, as well as many Casio Pathfinder watches. As far as I know, the "Men in Smoke" moniker only refers to the smoky-green translucent case and has no real significance. This watch features a 30 page Telememo memory in addition to all the G-Shock features we know and love, including 200m water resistance, stopwatch and countdown timer. Casio claims that a fully-charged Raysman will continue to keep time in complete darkness for two years and that seems quite reasonable to me. Mine was in complete darkness for at least a year and had a substantial charge when I got it out recently. While it seems like the bat logo on the caseback and EL backlight (see Sjors' photos here) are a strange choice for a solar-powered watch, I believe the ability for it to "survive" in darkness is the connection. And for laughs, allow me to quote that 1999 G-Shock brochure once again: "Solar power draws energy for the watch from any light source (spotlights, porchlights, headlights, fluorescents, incandescents, cue beams, tractor beams, and many more)." Obviously, somebody in Casio's advertising department has a sense of humor. I really like the design of the Raysman and its large size. It's a tough watch to overlook and equally tough to hide under a shirt cuff. I have another one but wouldn't mind adding more to my collection.